Israeli poet and musician Shye Ben Tzur, who will perform at Sama'a, a Sufi music festival, tells Yogesh Pawar that a visit to the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was a turning point in his life
A chance visit to Rajasthan's Sufi shrine Ajmer Sharif, years ago, had Israeli poet, composer and singer Shye Ben Tzur hooked. "It was like the centre of my life had shifted to the spiritual atmosphere of the dargah and the music of the qawwals there. Once I got hooked, the joy of sinking deeper and deeper into it was too good to come out of," says Tzur. "This was not about taking a plunge and coming out with a fistful of elements to embellish my music with. This was more like a lifelong bond, which has grown from deep within my being."
It was in Ajmer that the Tzur got acquainted with Rajasthan's various folk genres. "I was enchanted with some of these and began to work with them given how lively, passionate and uplifting they were at the performance, composition and spiritual levels."
Years later, Tzur and The Rajasthan Express are part of Sama'a, the annual, three-day Sufi music festival at Mumbai's National Centre for Performing Arts. "I lived in Mumbai for a year during my first album Heeyam, and attended many concerts at the NCPA," recalls Tzur. "To perform at the same venue, at a festival that focuses on Sufi culture while bringing in poetry in Hebrew is definitely very special."
Known for being eclectic and full of rhythm, Tzur says, "The most special feeling for us is when the division between audience and performers vanishes into some sort of magic in the air, which we share as an experience together. That is something very dear to me and to my band members."
He brushes off the categorisation-defying eclecticism of his genre and style as something that happens organically. "I don't compose a genre consciously in order to resist categorisation. My compositions are kind of a soundtrack of my life," says Tzur. "This is a reflection of the way I live. It's not that I have one kind of a life and a different kind of music. I want to be inspired by everything, open my heart to all the elements and make them part of me." And yet such an open mind and heart have not led this Israeli to Gaza. "No, not yet," he admits, "But who knows? Maybe later." He brushes off questions about any raised eyebrows back in Israel about Sufism having roots in Islam, and brings the talk back to Indian music.
Given his close association with musicians in India, Tzur feels that Indian music is so rich that it takes more than a lifetime to explore it. "When you start working with Indian music, you see the beauty of it. You realise its subtlety, the differences of each style and each musical tradition." He is so appreciative of the country's musicians, with whom he's consistently collaborated, that he describes this time as "the most meaningful time of my life". "It began with my fascination with Indian music, which opened a gate for me to discover different dimensions of Indian culture. This changed my entire life and has been a very inspiring process."
He's currently preoccupied with India's music scene, "which is growing in many interesting ways." While his favourite Indian musicians are from Rajasthan, absolute favourites are, "The Ska Vengers, Gyan Singh, tabla player Zakir Hussain, Jazz Busters and Soulmate."
(Shye Ben Tzur & The Rajasthan Express will perform this evening at the NCPA, Mumbai)
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